House panel to consider requiring schools to offer Bible class electives
Every high school in Texas would have to offer elective courses based on the Bible under legislation pushed by a key lawmaker.
House Bill 1287, authored by House Appropriations Committee Chairman Warren Chisum, R-Pampa, calls for all school districts to offer separate electives on the literature and history of the Old and New testament eras. The class must be taught in an objective and nondevotional manner, Chisum's proposal says.
Warren Chisum is none other than the Texas Rep. who, last February, circulated a memo among Texas State legislators, that referenced a website claiming the Earth was the center of the Universe and that the Sun, the Solar System, and all the heavens wheel around our little planet once per 24 hours.
Location: Texas
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Comments
Yikes, this is scary. Found some more info and a good discussion here: http://www.talk2action.org/story/2007/3/31/183633/691
The bill's author gives it a definite cringe factor and I personally believe that making such a course a legislative requirement is unnecessary. In principle, however, a critical examimation of the Bible would seeem to be necessary for a good education. Regardless of one's religious beliefs, it's hard to deny that the Bible has had a significant impact on world history and culture. Perhaps studying it in the context of a Comparative Religion course would be more useful and less slanted to Christianity.